Category: Producer Tools

There is nothing that is more fun than playing a vinyl album. Everything from the paper the album cover is printed on, to the liner notes to the smell of the Vinyl itself, there is nothing quite like it.

Yes, I still have my original record collection from when I was a kid but my greatest treasures are because of my Dad (RIP), who kept bringing me picture disks from the late 1970s that are worth a lot today.

According to Billboard Magazine:

Vinyl album sales in the U.S. hit their 13th consecutive year of growth, with ‘Guardians’ being the top-selling LP and “Yellow Submarine” the biggest vinyl single.

Vinyl album sales continue to be a bright spot among an otherwise bleak album sales picture. 16.8 million vinyl albums were sold in 2018, according to Nielsen Music (up 14.6 percent) — marking the 13th consecutive year of growth for the format. 16.8 million is also a new yearly high for vinyl album sales since Nielsen Music began tracking sales in 1991.

Vinyl LP sales accounted for 11.9 percent of all album sales in 2018 (16.8 million of 141 million). In 2017, the format comprised 6.5 percent of album sales.

Overall in 2018, 14 albums sold more than 50,000 copies on vinyl — up from just eight titles in 2017. Further, 79 titles exceeded 20,000 in LP sales in 2018, as compared to 77 in 2017 and 58 in 2016.

TOP 10 SELLING VINYL ALBUMS OF 2018 IN U.S.

Rank

Artist, Title

Sales

1

Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1

84,000

2

Michael Jackson, Thriller

84,000

3

Fleetwood Mac, Rumours

77,000

4

The Beatles, Abbey Road

76,000

5

Prince and The Revolution, Purple Rain(Soundtrack)

71,000

6

Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon

67,000

7

Bob Marley and The Wailers, Legend: The Best Of…

61,000

8

Queen, Greatest Hits

60,000

9

Amy Winehouse, Back to Black

59,000

10

Panic! at the Disco, Pray for the Wicked

59,000

Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019. (Titles listed with the same sales total are not tied, as their exact sales are rounded to the nearest thousand.)

RECORD WEEK FOR VINYL ALBUM SALES: 905,000 vinyl albums were sold in the week ending Dec. 27, 2018, the largest week for the format since Nielsen Music began tracking sales in 1991. That sum actually beats out a record that was only set a week earlier, when 880,000 vinyl LPs were sold in the frame ending Dec. 20. (Before 2018, the largest week was registered in the week ending Dec. 21, 2017, with 811,000 vinyl albums sold.)

ROCK AROUND THE VINYL CLOCK: Rock music is tops among vinyl album buyers, as the genre comprises the largest share of vinyl LP sales: 63 percent. In 2017, the genre amounted to 67 percent of LP sales, while in 2016 rock yielded 69 percent of LP sales.

Here we are near the end of 2018 and I simply cannot believe how fast this year went. Over the past few days I have been in dialogue and open discussions with my team about 2019. As I always say, “A Dream Is A Goal With A Deadline.”

This morning I saw this post from one my favorite bloggers. What was the topic? How to make your blog the best it can be in 2019.

(A special hat tip to Sir Danny, a dear friend of mine that I have known for years and is very internet savvy).

Pluto.tv ~ a nice alternative to Netflix.

The more I looked into online streaming services, the more I found. Need to know more? Here is a recent story that tells it all:

No money in the budget for a Netflix subscription? Or Amazon Prime? Fear not: As long as you have an internet connection, you can still enjoy movie night. Granted, you may not be able to stream Hollywood’s latest, but you can still enjoy gems such as Lady Bird, the first four Rocky movies, The Grand Budapest Hotel and plenty of classics, all without spending an extra penny.

Here are nine services offering totally free — and totally legal — movies you can watch online. Just be prepared to sit through commercials, because that’s how many of these services stay in business. (One quick note: Selections change regularly, so not all the titles listed here may still be available.)

Podcasting has become a real force on thousands of websites. Like most producer’s, I was always an early adapter. I wanted to see how I could use podcasting as a marketing and branding tool back in 2005, so I launched a podcast called “What’s Out Next!”

I’ve placed a sample of the show here, and beneath the show, I’ve put some articles and resources to help you along your podcasting path.

To show you how much Podcasting has grown, check out this article with the link:

When Serial hit the digital airwaves in October 2014, the podcast world was taken by a storm. Suddenly, people who had previously been oblivious to the niche world of on-demand audio content were frantically awaiting the next installment of the weekly show that delved into the minutia of an 15-year-old crime.

As a result, more and more people are turning to podcasts for everything from politics to comedy, while bloggers, authors and YouTubers are leveraging audio content as a way to expand their audience. But where technology and media trends may have evolved simultaneously in the past, the tools available to both podcasters and podcast listeners remain surprisingly stagnant, unable or unwilling to provide the resources necessary to sustain the growth of the medium.

Shifting perceptions

Across the UK we listen to an average of 26 hours of audio per week, but despite the move towards on-demand digital content in almost every other industry, three-quarters of our listening time is still traditional radio. Adam Martin is the chief content officer at Acast, a podcasting platform that launched in April 2014 and has quickly become one of the most popular apps for podcast listeners, particularly those on Android devices. Part of his role is to shift perceptions of podcasting away from the idea of the geeky white middle-aged man podcasting from their garage, but he finds the historic lack of streamlined technology is a barrier.

“Once you hook people on to podcasts, that’s it. I don’t know anyone who’s stopped listening to podcasts after they start, but the tech needs to be accessible,” said Martin. “Instead of expecting people to download apps and look things up, we want to go to where people already are. We use Facebook Instant Articles integration and a Twitter player to show people snippets of audio they’ll find interesting. We don’t want to corrall them into a walled garden and force them to listen through our app; we want to be a part of the social media channels they already frequent and serve up content to them there. You have to break down the barriers to access podcasts, remove the friction and go to where the people already are.”

On October 10, 2015, I launched a two-hour show radio show every Saturday night on American Freedom Radio.

It is now almost three years since I initially launched the show and decided that my followers here at AfterHollywood.Online might enjoy hearing some of my thoughts on the state of American and the world at that time. A lot of it still applies to right here right now in 2018.

In the very near future, I’ll be launching a brand new podcast that is in pre-production right now, and as I formulate the new show, I openly share with you my last show. (Remnants and Luminaries).

The new show? It will be of course: “AfterHollywood.Online.” I think you’ll like it and it will be a different format than any other show I’ve done.

Make it a great day, enjoy your weekend and remember to do something kind and extraordinary for someone that makes a positive difference in their life.

One final note: Think about how much things have changed since 2015 and think about where we are in 2018 during the mid-term elections. It is a wild ride! Since this recording was made, I did acquire an iPhone 7s because it is just a necessity in America in 2018. May my comments inspire you and don’t hesitate to reach out to me any time you have a comment, question or a connection to share. Peace happy followers!